Abstract:
Empowerment is a widely accepted and applied concept in the development process in
many parts of the world. Women’s empowerment has become a global issue and the
discussions on women’s rights are at the forefront of many formal and informal campaigns.
Particularly the developing countries apply this concept in their poverty alleviation
strategies to minimize the feminization of poverty.
In recent years Sri Lanka as well as other developing countries use micro enterprise
sector to empower rural women in their poverty alleviation strategies. Particularly in the
rural sector micro enterprises have opened opportunities for rural women with few options
by establishing their self-esteem and social dignity. As a result of this process of
^ empowerment various positive and negative effects have created. Particularly through
women entrepreneurship, rural women have been able to define their attitudes, values and
behaviour in relation to their own interest. After starting micro enterprises they have the
autonomy because they claim their freedom from existing male hierarchies and maintain
equal mindedness. They use their talents and maintain their strength in the context of
family, society and working environment. But it is also identical that there are some
adverse impacts of this process. Particularly it has adversely affected their family and
social setup by creating various family and social problems. Their cultural background,
family setup and ideology have mainly been responsible for these problems. As
theoretically explained by the concept, empowered women should not aim at being
superior to men and they need to continue to meet their family responsibilities. They
should not be retreated from traditional responsibilities but it does not mean that they can
completely apart from family setup and responsibilities.
Therefore, the objective of this paper is to discuss various positive and negative
impacts of women empowerment though micro entrepreneurship in the rural sector. For
this purpose two villages from the central province of Sri Lanka have been selected as the
sample for the study. Methodologically this study is mainly based on qualitative research
techniques such as in-depth interviews, discussions and case studies. Finally, findings of
this study disclosed that empowered women through micro entrepreneurship have been
able to be economically independent and self-reliant and they have attained the power of
controlling their own bodies and resources. But to certain extent they have lost their family
setup and social honor as women due to exceeding the limits. It is evident that socio
cultural setup particularly associated with the rural sector in Sri Lanka has mainly affected
this background.
